If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Gil Brandt - draft expert?

There is no doubt that Gil Brandt was ahead of his time when drafting early on in his Cowboy career. The truth also is that Brandt brought down the Cowboy brand with terrible drafts in the 80's. His picks for the first two rounds from 1980 to 1987 were: no picks in 1980 first two rounds than, Howard Richards,Doug Donley, Rod Hill, Jeff Rohrer, Jim Jeffcoat, Mike Walter,Billy Cannon Jr. Victor Scott, Kevin Brooks, Jesse Penn, Mike Sherrard, Darryl Clack, Danny Noonan and finally Ron Francis. Some nice players and some outright busts. That's why Dallas picked number 11 in 1988 and ultimately number 1 in 1989.

Re: Gil Brandt - draft expert?

I have a tough time placing all the positives or negatives on the GM(ok, vice president of player personnel) Everyone has to do their jobs, scouts have to evaluate well, the coaches have to find guys that fit their scheme, and the coaches have to develop the talent that is brought in.

A lot of people say the raiders drafted badly for taking lets say Russell, or Heyward Bey, but a lot of teams, if not most or all had those guys as first round picks too.

Re: Gil Brandt - draft expert?

'Draft expert' is a term that projects to the fans, us. Draft expert has nothing to do with a team and how they do their business, by this I mean that I highly doubt Jerry Reese watches "Path to the Draft" to align/confirm/receive insight for his draft board.

You do bring up a good -- GREAT point though, how smart are these guys? Greg Cosell, Mike Mayock, Gil Brandt, guys that I really respect, they talk and I listen, so clearly, relative to a fan they are very insightful -- but relative to a team, are they the equivalent to a knowledgable fan? Cosell watches a lot of tape, he gets it. Mayock watches a lot of college tape, he gets it. Brandt has been in the GM shoes, he gets it as well. But where is the line drawn? I am starting to think that anyone who gets casted off from an NFL team (which happens for a reason), can enter the media world and be a so called 'draft expert'.

A couple of years ago, there was a scout by the name of Daniel Jeremiah, and his tweets were the ****. They were just great stuff, much like Cosell's, but he was an out of work scout. He has returned to scouting but my point is to look at the discrepancy. Out of work scout, to all-star blogger, to west coast scout for the Eagles.

I look at it like an extremely popular high school kid graduating from his 150 kid senior class to attending on of the biggest schools in the nation. Big fish, small pond (and vice versa) argument.